Read Online HealingPassion by Katherine Kingston - Free Book Online Page A

presence brightened her
expression. He took the chair opposite her. “Quite. Yourself?”
    “I did, my lord.”
    “I’m glad, as I had the advantage of a glorious bath and an
excellent head rub. Tonight we shall reverse that. You will be sure to order
the bath, my lady.”
    “My lord, this—”
    He stopped her by putting his finger across her lips. “Nay,
my lady. I’ll do nothing you object to, but I will return some of the comfort
you gave me.”
    “But—”
    He cupped her cheek with his hand. “Juliana, do you truly
believe Lord Groswick yet lives?”
    She blinked at him, trying to hold back tears that made her
eyes shine. “Nay, my lord. He does not.”
    “So I’m coming to believe. He is either dead, most likely on
some distant battlefield or victim of brigands somewhere between here and
there, or he is hiding and wants not to be found. I can think of no reason why
he should do so, nor has anyone here offered any reasons. Can you think of any?
    She sighed. “Nay. He had enemies, of a certainty, but were
he to decide to hide out anywhere, ‘twould be right here, in this keep, where
he grew up, and where he knew he owned all in sight. That was greatly important
to him. So, as he is not here now, I do not believe it likely he ever will
return.” Her fingers threaded together into a tight knot and her breath caught
on a sob with the last word.
    “Therefore you do not dishonor your marriage vows if you
find you feel some desire for myself.”
    She gave him a wry and still slightly teary grin. “You
assume much, my lord, that you should think I feel something for you.”
    “I do not assume, Juliana. I look in your face, in your
eyes, and I see the passion that lurks, that rouses when you look at me. I do
not think Lord Groswick ever roused that passion in you.”
    She sucked in a sharp breath. Dismay flashed across her face
then was forcibly repressed. “Nay, my lord,” she said, softly, almost a
whisper. “He did not.”
    He leaned forward, running a gentle finger across her soft,
full lips, watching the way her expression changed, her eyes darkening, her
mouth parting. “There is something building between us. Your have no husband
now, lady. You’re free to explore what comes to us.” Of course, he still had to
prove that, but he would. He would.
    She closed her eyes, almost wincing in what appeared to be
pain. “Nay, my lord. I’m not free. I cannot be. There is more…there are things
you do not know. Cannot know. I’ll never be free. Not for you. Nor for any
man.”
    “You still grieve?”
    “Nay. Or rather, aye. I grieve. I grieve for many things.”
    “‘Tis too early to look to the future for you?” He was
startled by the realization, but it wasn’t too early for him. In just a day or
so, this lovely lady had come to represent all he wanted in life. She was
warmth and love and home.
    She leaned back. For a moment her eyes lost focus as though
she stared into that future. Her expression went bleak. When she looked at him
again, a yearning so deep and so intense it tugged at his heart flared in her
eyes. It didn’t last. She turned to stare out the window. “There are yet too many
things that remain to be settled before I can look to the future, my lord.”
    “Then will you, at least, take some comfort in the present?”
Instead of giving her time to answer, he dipped his head and pressed his lips
to hers. She tasted sweet, flower sweet, honey sweet, like a perfectly ripe
fruit. At first she remained unmoving, perhaps startled by the forwardness of
his act. But after a minute she relaxed and her mouth softened.
    He moved closer to her and drew her to her feet without
releasing her mouth. His arms circled around her, pulling her body against him,
chest to chest. She fit perfectly in his arms, her head resting on his
shoulder. Heat poured through him. His cock rose to attention.
    Though he knew her a strong and competent young woman, and
admired her for it, she seemed remarkably small,